ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Recap from Minneapolis

In what was a shorter than expected main event IBF Title Eliminator from the Minneapolis Convention Center which was broadcasted by Espn2 and Espn Deportes. Rances Barthelemy scored a 2nd round knockout with shots the body that put Fahsai Sakkreerin on the floor for the full 10 count. Fortunately Sakkreerin was able to get up after a being tended to by the ringside doctor.

Rances controlled the 1st round with lead left hooks and counter right uppercuts on the inside. Fahsai landed his left early in the round but Barthelemy’s ability to roll his punches enabled him to land anything clean.

In the second round Barthelemy stuck his long jab in Fahsai’s face than followed it up with solid shots to the body and head. The fighters exchange body shots a few times in a row but it was Rances bigger, more accurate shots that ended the night. The win moves Barthelemy’s record to a perfect 19-0(12Ko) and puts him in prime position in the IBF rankings.

Broner vs. Malignaggi: Does Adrien believe in Magic?

006MalignaggiandBronerIMG_0010 I can’t recall another fight in recent years that had so much 2 way trash talk leading up to the event. If the fight lives up to even 50% of the hype that got very personal at times, we could see both men fighting with some extra emotion in the ring this Saturday from Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center. This fight isn’t a PPV but you would never guess from the buzz that it has created even with Adrien Broner being a huge favorite at the sportsbooks.

Will Paulie be able push Broner the way Ponce De Leon and Fernando Quintero did? Or will the pre fight presser’s be the only thing we remember about this fight that could be downright boring?

Weigh-in: Broner vs. Malignaggi

Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) and WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) both successfully weighed in on Friday for their fight on Showtime Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Broner weighed in at 146.8 lbs, and Malignaggi weighed in at 146.4.

Not much happened in the stare down, as both fighters jawed back and forth with another. Malignaggi wanted Broner to stare him in the eyes because he kept pointing to his eyes to get Broner to continue staring at him after he turned his head.

Broner looked good at the weight, and he claimed afterwards that he didn’t have to drain himself to make the 147 lb. limit. He said he ate as he always does and he still made the weight. Broner is probably being honest about it because when he was fighting at lightweight, he would rehydrate to close to 147 for his fights, so it makes sense that for him to easily make the 147 lb. limit.

Ricky Burns to defend against Raymundo Beltran on September 7th in Glasgow, Scotland

burns6 WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2, 11 KO’s) got his difficult title defense against Jose Gonzalez out of the way in beating him by a 9th round TKO last May, and now Burns will be making what should be a lot easier title defense against #8 WBO 8 Raymundo Beltran (28-6, 17 KO’s) on September 7th in Glasgow, Scotland.

If Burns beats Beltran, he will likely face the winner of the Gavin Rees vs. Anthony Crolla fight next. That’ll give Burns two relatively easy fights back to back before he has to take on someone dangerous like Sergio Thompson, Omar Figueroa or Terrence Crawford. That’s where Burns will really be tested.

Beltran is a good fighter, but he’s already lost at the top rungs of the division recently in defeats against Luis Ramos Jr. and Sharif Bogere. Beltran did defeat Hank Lundy and Ji-Hoon Kim recently, but those guys aren’t in the same class as Burns and it’s not the same thing.

Cleverly vs. Kovalev on August 17th in Wales

Big punching unbeaten light heavyweight contender Sergey Kovalev (21-0-1, 19 KO’s) will be facing WBO 175 lb. champion Nathan Cleverly (26-0, 12 KO’s) on August 17th in a fight that will be televised by HBO as part of a possible triple-header with IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale defending his title against challenger Darren Barker in a different location, and IBF super bantamweight champion Jonathan Romero facing an opponent still to be determined.

The Cleverly-Kovalev fight will be staged at the Motorpoint Arena, in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

This will be one of the rare fights for Cleverly where he’s fighting someone that actually is a really good fighter and who has a chance to beat him. You can’t say that about a lot of the guys that Cleverly has been fighting since he picked up the WBO 175 lb. title in 2011. There’s been a lot of weak opposition that Cleverly has been facing and it’s nice to see him fight a live body for a change.

Gennady Golovkin – Matthew Macklin Full Interview Transcript

352 Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Middleweight Championship Boxing After Dark Triple Header Conference call. Today we have WBA and IBO defending middleweight champion, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin with a record of 26 and 0, 23 knockouts and his challenger, top rated middleweight contender and former World Title challenger, Matthew “Mac the Knife” Macklin with 29 and 4 and 20 knockouts.

We also have Tom Loeffler, president of K2 Promotions, Golovkin’s promoter and GGG’s head trainer, Abel Sanchez. For team Macklin, we have promoter Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, co-promoter, Brian Peters of Brian Peters Promotions and head trainer, Buddy McGirt. The HBO Boxing After Dark triple header begins at 9:45 pm Eastern Time and Pacific Time on Saturday, June 29 and takes place at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods.

Iran “The Blade” Barkley Speaks: 25-Years After His Stunning Upset KO Of Thomas Hearns

Just over 25-years ago, Iran “The Blade” Barkley, he of the mean streets of The Bronx, met Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, he of the equally tough neighbourhoods of Detroit – and a sensational middleweight title fight was witnessed.

Hearns, by 1988 already a living legend, has just made history by becoming the first ever four-time “world” champion in boxing (welterweight, light-middle, light-heavy and then middleweight). Barkley, who had been handily out-pointed by the talented Sumbu Kalambay in his only other world title challenge, was a pretty big underdog entering the ring at The Las Vegas Hilton that summer’s evening. Still, sage boxing people knew Barkley was as tough as he was dangerous. To the shock of millions, Barkley showed just how tough and dangerous he was, after taking a most ferocious beating at the hands of the champion.

Weigh in results for ESPN2 FNF Minneapolis

549 Weights for the Espn2 Friday Night Fights Card-Minneapolis Convention Center

Rances Barthelemy 129 vs Fahsi Sakkreerin 128 IBF 130 Eliminator
Donovan George 161.8 vs Caleb Truax 162 -10 rounds 162
Jeremy Mclaurin 134.6 vs Tony Lee 134 -8 rounds 135
Gavin Quinn 154 vs Kenneth Glenn 158(over)-4 rounds 154
Charles Meirer 154 vs Tyler Hultin 153.6 -8 rounds 154
Pat Quinn 363 vs Josh Schimon-4 rounds Heavyweight
Lewayne Hardiman(no show) vs Dustan Perton 155.7 – 4 rounds
Adrian Martinez 135.7 vs Leonard Overstreet 139.2 -4 rounds

Tickets to Friday Night Fights at the Convention Center start at $35 and can be purchased through www.sofights.com.bIn addition to the 12-round Barthelemy vs. Sakkreerin main event, seven more fights are scheduled including the 10-round televised middleweight co-main event between local hero “Golden” Caleb Truax (21-1-1, 12 KO) of Osseo, Minnesota, and Chicago’s Don “Da Bomb” George (24-3-2, 21 KO).